Privacy notice - patient information

This document explains your rights on how we use information about you, how we keep your information safe and confidential, and how you can access your health records if you want to.

The Five Towns Plus Hospice Fund Limited (Registered Charity No: 514999 / Registered Company: 1797810) also known as The Prince of Wales Hospice is committed to protecting your personal information. The Prince of Wales Hospice is registered with the Information Commissioner in the UK and any information collected will be used and held in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998.

The Information Commissioners Office is an independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals. Details of our registration can be found at https://ico.org.uk/esdwebpages/search

Enter our registration number (Z5023869) and click ‘search register’.

The Prince of Wales Hospice is committed to protecting your personal information and this privacy notice explains how we achieve this. It will give you a clear explanation about how The Prince of Wales Hospice collects and uses the personal information that you give to us.

If you would like any more information about this privacy notice or your personal information, please contact our Caldicott Guardian:

About us

The Prince of Wales Hospice has been providing care to people with a life-limiting illness since 1989. We care for patients with any life-limiting illness, including cancer, motor neurone disease and chronic heart and lung disease. We care for anyone over the age of 18, either as a visiting out-patient, or on our ward where we offer 24-hour specialist care. Our Hospice helps people live better with their illness, with over half who stay with us eventually returning home. Many choose the safety and dignity of our Hospice for care at the end of their life.

Our care also extends to the carers and families of our patients, who often need us just as much.

How do we collect information?

When you are referred to our services we may ask for or hold personal confidential information about you, which will be used to help your care team give you the care and treatment you need. Your doctor, as well as other members of your care team will record details of your health and any treatments or services you have received. This, along with information that you may be able to tell us, helps us to make sure that your care, is truly individualised and meets all of your needs, so we can give you the highest quality of care.

What information do we collect?

The information we hold about you could include:

• basic details, such as your name, address, next of kin and medical history
• any contact we have had with you and when you have visited us
• notes and reports about your health and any treatment you have received, either from us or other healthcare providers
• information from people who care for you and know you well, such as health professionals and relatives.

It may also include personal sensitive information such as sexuality, race, your religion or beliefs, and whether you have a disability, allergies or health conditions. It is important for us to have a complete picture, as this information helps staff give you the care you need.

Where do we get your information from?

Your information is collected in a number of ways; from your health or social care team when you are referred to our services (this is normally your district nurse, GP or hospital consultant).

If you have self-referred to one of our hospice services such as Outreach we will have asked you for your information.

How do we use your information?

Your health records are used as a guide to help us to plan the care that you will receive from us, however the information can also be used in other ways:

• to help us make decisions about your care;
• to make sure that your treatment is safe and effective;
• to work well with other people who may be involved in your care;
• to investigate any concerns or complaints you may have, either about your care or the standards; and
• of any health or social care professionals looking after you.

We may share your information with other health and social care staff if we think it is in your best interests. For example, this may be information we give to your doctor about the care we have given you; it may be to a hospital or another health or social care service, where we think that you would benefit from their involvement. We will speak to you about any referrals that we think you need and the reasons for them.

In some cases, we use your anonymised information (by removing anything that identifies you) for:

• to support the health of the general public;
• to ensure our services can meet future needs;
• to review care provided to ensure it is of the highest standard possible;
• to train healthcare staff;
• for research and audit;
• to prepare statistics on our performance;
• to monitor how we spend money; and
• to share with external regulators, e.g. The Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Who will the information be shared with?

To give the best care we can, sometimes we will need to share information about you with others. We may share your information with a range of Health and Social Care organisations and regulatory bodies.

We would only do this with your agreement and with strict rules as to how it could be used.

You may be contacted by any one of these organisations; they must tell you why they have contacted you. Information sharing is regulated by specific rules and law. We will not give any health information to third parties without your explicit consent, unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as when the health or safety of others is at risk or where the law requires us to provide the information.

We may also be asked to share basic information about you, such as your name and parts of your address, which does not include sensitive information from your health records. Generally, we would only do this to help other health and social care providers (such as the NHS) to carry out their statutory duties (such as usages of healthcare services, public health or national audits).

In these circumstances, where it is not practical to obtain your explicit consent, we are informing you through this notice, which is referred to as a Privacy Notice, under the Data Protection regulations.

You have the right to refuse/withdraw consent to information sharing at any time. We will fully explain the possible consequences to you, which could include delays in you receiving care.

How we protect your information?

Any information you tell us in confidence will only be used for the purposes to which you consent to, unless there are other circumstances covered by the law.

All our staff are required to protect your information, tell you of how your information will be used and allow you to decide if and how your information can be shared. This will be written in your records.

We have the appropriate data collection, storage, and processing practices, and security measures to protect against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction of your personal data stored on our systems.

There are strict rules in place to make sure your information is safe, whether it is on paper or in computer files. All Hospice staff are required to complete annual training in information security, data protection and confidentiality, with additional training for specialists, such as the Caldicott Guardian, Senior Information Risk Officer and Data Protection Officer.

Everyone working for the Hospice has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential; this duty is enforced by common law, statute, codes of conduct and contracts of employment.

How information is retained and kept safe?

Information is kept in secure electronic and paper records and access is restricted to only those who need to know. Our staff are expected to keep your information safe and not share it with anyone you don’t want us to or who doesn’t need to see it. We are able to do this by restricting access to only the people who need to see it.

Our aim is that we keep the information you give us strictly confidential.

Keeping your personal information

Once your care/contact with The Prince of Wales Hospice has come to an end your clinical records are kept for a certain period of time. A person’s health records are usually held for up to 10 years after their death, however this is dependent upon the type of record.

Where your information is no longer required, we will make sure it is disposed of securely.

Accuracy of your personal information

We have a duty to keep your personal information accurate and up to date. If, you become aware of any errors of fact that have appeared in your personal information, please let the Hospice know and these can be amended by mutual agreement.

Your rights

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation, which comes into force on May 25th 2018 you have the following rights:

1. The right to access certain aspects of your personal information (Subject Access Request SAR)
2. The right to edit and update certain aspects of your personal information
3. The right to request to have certain aspects of your personal information deleted
4. The right to restrict processing of certain aspects of your personal information
5. The right to object
6. The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

Please see The Prince of Wales Hospice Privacy Policy on the website, which details further information about your rights.

You may want to contact us to ask what personal data we are holding about you and to ask for a copy of that information in writing. You must provide proof of your identity by sending us two pieces of approved identification. We have 30 days to comply with your request once we are satisfied that you have the right to see the requested records and have successfully confirmed your identity.

Caldicott Guardian

The Caldicott Guardian is the position of responsibility for safeguarding the confidentiality of patient information within the Hospice and details can be found on the Caldicott Guardian Register on the NHS Digital website.

Research

If you would like to know more about how the Hospice uses information for research purposes, please contact the Caldicott Guardian in the first instance.

Additional information

According to the Access to Health Records Act 1990, other people are allowed to view your health records after your death – but only if they are your personal representative; an executor named in your Will; or someone who has a legal reason to access your health information

Your request will be processed within 30 days of receiving the request and all the relevant information that we require.

We will try our best to provide you with all the information you have asked for. If you think we have given you any information incorrectly, or you have not been given all the information you think you should be getting, please let us know.

In some instances, we may not be able to provide you with all the information you have requested. We may hold back certain information if it relates to another person and, as such, we would need their permission to provide it to you.

If you wish to lodge a complaint or seek advice from a supervisory authority please contact:

Changes to our privacy policy

We keep our privacy policy under regular review and may update it from time to time. When we do we will revise the updated date at the bottom of this page. We would encourage that you frequently check this page for any changes, to stay informed about how we are helping to protect your personal information that we collect. If here are any significant changes in the way that we treat your personal information we will contact you and we will place a prominent notice on our website.

This site, like many others, uses cookies to function and to help us understand how to make your journey better. To find out more about our use of cookies and your options, please click here and to find out more about how we use data, please click here to read our privacy policy.